The Ringling Welcomes Photographer John Pinderhughes for Virtual Artist’s Talk

May 19, 2021 – Sarasota

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is pleased to welcome celebrated photographer John Pinderhughes for a virtual artist’s talk. The online event will take place May 25 at 10:30 a.m. Christopher Jones, Stanton B. and Nancy W. Kaplan Curator of Photography and Media Art, will facilitate the conversation during which Pinderhughes will share his memories and stories from his long and celebrated career as a professional photographer and fine artist and his experiences as a member of Kamoinge Workshop, the famed collective of African American photographers.

John Pinderhughes is one of a small group of successful African American photographers working today. He has worked as a commercial photographer in New York City for the past 30 years, operating his own full service studio for the past 25 years. At the same time, he has pursued a career as a fine art photographer, and his work has been featured regularly in exhibitions.

Pinderhughes’s commercial work can best be described as “real people” and “illustration” photography. His regular clients include major advertising agencies, record companies, magazines and corporations. Recent clients include Con Edison, Publix Supermarkets, Sony, Verizon, American Family Insurance, BMW, Chase Bank and Anheuser-Busch Companies.

His striking images have garnered the recognition of commercial art directors and gallery/museum curators, as well as satisfying the interests of their diverse and separate audiences. Pinderhughes’s talent and reputation for excellence have been recognized with awards from The Art Directors Club and various advertising, design and magazine competitions, such as the Clio Awards and CEBA Awards.

Pinderhughes considers his fine art photography not as an appendage of his commercial work, but as a separate sphere. His images explore variations in pattern, texture, light and line. He has been widely exhibited and is represented in major collections including the Picker Art Gallery at Colgate University, the Museum of Modern Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Smithsonian National Museum Of African American History And Culture; Washington, DC.

Pinderhughes is the author of a cookbook, Family of the Spirit (Simon & Schuster, 1990), and four children’s books, and was the illustrator of Coming Together by Harriette Cole (Hyperion, 2003); other books are in the works.

As a member as a member of Kamoinge, a New York-based collective of African American photographers, he documented ravished communities impacted by Hurricane Katrina and the devastation’s far-reaching ramifications on the economic, social, and racial fabric of its residents. The resulting body of work explores the despair, as well as the hope and resilience of the many residents who have lived in these communities for countless generations.

The Artist’s Talk tickets are $5.00/ FREE for members and tickets and additional information may be found at https://my.ringling.org/virtual/23275